After 30 years
by zeroseconds
Summary: The year was 1999 and the month was early in January. A rejected visitor finds it necessary to use whatever means to shake up the SPR.
1. Chapter 1

**Foreword: **

Hey it's me again, that crazy crack fic author who has been resurrected from the ashes again.

You might remember that short story Gravedigging. Yep it's this one again and with a different title and premise. Some small changes were made. New content will start in chapter 3.

**Note:**

You might be interested in knowing that there is another version of this fic online with colored sketches: archiveofourown. org / works / 36437

Paste in your browser and remove the spaces.

**AFTER 30 YEARS**

**Chapter 1**

The year was 1999 and the month was early in January. The temperature outside and inside the office was frigid and I had been shivering in behind my desk, trying to read up some paper articles - in particular, the ones about Ryokuryou High School in Hokkaido had been interesting. Strange things kept happening and I wondered if someone would ever visit us to take it up as a case - though I highly doubt Naru would accept it. He has been rejecting requests almost each day now. Try to imagine his current mood, I'm surprised I hadn't turned into an ice cube yet.

I got up and warmed myself by walking around in the office. It has been a mystery how Naru and Lin could cope with this temperature, but apparently this had been the perfect condition to work in.

The phone on my desk rang, because this time my boss wasn't in the mood to answer the calls himself. After I answered I received a hesitant reply from someone who didn't state his surname or where he came from.

"Would you like to speak to the president?" I asked the potential client after a few basic questions. From the sound of it he appeared to be in his late teens and quite well behaved. When you work here, you'll get a taste of the misbehaved quite often... not counting my boss and the other office worker. I met them last year in April. Although I noticed Lin-san had been kinder to me ever since Christmas, we still don't speak to one another very often. More like we don't speak to each other at all. Another part-time office worker was Takahashi Yuuko, whom we encountered in the Yuasa Senior Academy case in Fall; she fills in for me on my free days. As well as Kasai Chiaki who is taking lessons from Lin in Qi-Gong. I also heard she had some interest in working with us, but she had to give priority to the upcoming entrance exams.

At my question the client responded nervously, "Wh-why ye-yes of course!"

"Don't worry he won't bite," I responded warmly.

"Yes yes."

There was a slight relief in his voice. I couldn't help but thinking this guy sounds so innocent and sweet, but why did he sound so anxious about talking to my boss? If he knew that person from before I might have understood, but I don't think they ever met from the sound of it.

"Hold on for a moment," I said, then put the phone on the desk and went to knock on Naru's door.

"Come in."

I opened the door.

"There's a phone call... from Jin-san."

"What?" Naru looked up at me immediately at the name. I felt myself glowing hot and pointed at the phone on my desk. Did he just miss what I said? I couldn't describe whatever was in his eyes now, a mix of shock, apprehension... or hope? Something I've never seen on his face at least.

"Well, he called himself Jin. He needs to talk to you. It's very urgent."

The strangest reaction was evoked. The wide-eyed Naru dropped his map after giving me that incredulous stare. Yes, he dropped his beloved map and almost ran to the phone on my desk to pick it up. Wow, he ran.

"Jin?!"

A few silent seconds passed and I could only stare after him with my mouth gaping. The client never replied.

"He hung up," an angry Naru said, putting it down.

"Of course! Look what you just did! You scared him!"

Without any doubt in my mind I glared at Naru, but he was too frustrated to even look at me. I couldn't believe I was scolding my own boss. A moment later Naru walked past me to Lin, who had gotten out of his own office. He appeared less than stoic now, looking even slightly worried.

"A recording of the call. Now."

The man nodded and disappeared back into the room in a speedy pace. I was at a loss to say anything, so I waited in the kitchen to hear what they had to say about the phone call. In my mind I continually wondered why it had been so important to listen to the recording.

"It's not him," he decided, sounding vaguely disappointed.

...who?

Lin sighed before giving his hopeful opinion, "I do think they sound alike."

"...but it's not that idiot."

"I know, but for once you could have been wrong. Perhaps he's still..."

Though he tried to convince our boss, even Lin seemed doubtful of his own statement.

"I'm never wrong. Forget about it."

With that Naru retreated to his office and two doors closed. I could only wonder; just who were they looking for?

* * *

I gave Naru his cup of tea. Once again he was staring at one of his maps in deep concentration and scribbling down something on his notepad. Sometimes I recognized a few of the words, but usually not very often. Ever since I found out he wrote in English I've been paying more attention to my classes... yeah, what silly crushes can do!

This time I can't recognize anything. Do you know what they say about a doctor's handwriting..? It's exactly like that.

"What are you doing here."

The sentence out of his mouth didn't resemble a question. He must have noticed I've been standing a little longer than ten seconds.

"I wanted to ask a question."

Naru didn't even look up at me. That map is so much more interesting.

"About what happened..." I said, giving a wry smile, "with that phone call from Jin-san. "

"I'll leave that up to your imagination."

I sighed, obviously angered.

"I didn't even ask my question yet! Really Naru. What made you yell into the phone like that?"

"None of your business."

"Do you know a Jin-san or something?"

Naru looked up to me for a moment, but his eyes veiled any emotions. If he had them, that is.

"You seem too caught up into this matter," he avoided again.

"Why would I not? Jin-san was a possible client. What if it was serious?"

"No need to tell me," Naru said, visibly annoyed, "sounds like you know him."

In my dreams! It's just you being apathetic.

"I don't. You heard the phone call! I feel sorry for him. Why can't you be more remorseful for once?!"

"I'm not sentimental like you. Now go back to work."

I wanted to send him another glare, but Naru returned to writing down notes.

"Well, I could help? I know a lot of boys who are named Jin...."

"That will be unnecessary."

"Ugh."

Naru glared at me.

"Stop asking me questions and go back to work," he repeated.

I growled and began to wander back to my desk.

"Oh, and while you're at it... take this note to Lin," Naru added as he teared out a page out of his notebook, having me return to his desk to retrieve the said note, "It's the dates for the trips I'll be making soon."

I frowned at my boss for a moment and then left to hand over the piece of paper to the stoic man.

* * *

The following day we had a visitor. It wasn't every day we received foreign people in the office, so I was pretty nervous about my lingual capabilities. A young man named Jonathan was seated opposite my boss. His hair was middle long and dirty blond... just imagine a foreign version of Bou-san here, but a bit more neat. His eyes were sparkling chocolate brown... yes, they were sparkling for he did seem quite confident and charming. Fortunately he seemed fluent in Japanese.

"Where do you come from?" Naru bothered to ask. I suppose he was interested in knowing people's nationality for some reason. He had asked John the same question when we first met. I must say his Japanese was very natural unlike the former.

"I was born and raised in Okinawa," Jonathan replied. Unlike the other boy from yesterday he seemed absolutely not intimidated by Naru, who nodded. I hadn't noticed that his eyes narrowed slightly at the answer, although I did hear Lin-san's subtle cough. They must have some secret code; silence for agreement, one cough for disagreement and clearing the throat for the sentence 'Look, we don't need you here.'

"I see."

The subject was swiftly changed.

"State your problem."

So Jonathan explained to us briefly his problem. Apparently a girl he knew well had gotten into an accident near a crossover and was in a coma. The reason he believed it was paranormal? She wasn't the only one to have an accident at that place. He provided him the details of the place on a note that he placed on the coffee table.

Naru sighed, deeply. I gulped, knowing what was to come next. It was up to client how to react to what he was about to tell him now.

"Jonathan-san, we don't take cases lacking anything of the paranormal."

"What?! I thought I clearly stated it's abnormal to have yearly accidents at a crossover with a coma as results! Near a graveyard of all things!"

"That isn't entirely uncommon to happen at these kind of crossovers. I'd interpret it as people believing that place to be a case of bad luck and thus becoming accident-prone-"

"But! Believe me it's true!" The young man yelled before he could finish his sentence.

I blinked my eyes at the sudden outburst. Naru wasn't impressed either and gave him a glare.

"Lin, throw him out."

At his request the tall man moved quickly to where Jonathan was sitting, who eyed him with apprehension and rapidly got on his feet to leave. An intimidating Lin cleared his throat and ushered the younger man to the exit. Up until then I thought this was a normal occurrence in this office, succeeding the enormous line of rejected potential clients. However, not one of them had the guts to say the following straight into my boss's face.

"I won't give up that easily," he said in determination as he opened the door. The menacing look on Jonathan spoke everything, "We'll see you again soon, Shibuya-san. I'll convince you, otherwise you'll deeply regret it!"

He left, closing the door behind him dramatically shut. A cold breeze that had come from the opened door caused the note to fall off the table. In my ears the threatening voice of the foreign young man echoed.

"Is... is that alright?" I asked, "What if he comes back?"

"We'll deal with it."

My boss had replied as if it was no problem. He picking the note up and staring at it briefly, then returned to his office.

Shortly after the fact, Naru made me go home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Note:**

I lied. New content begins in this chapter.

The entire story will be written from Mai _and_ Takigawa's point of view.

**AFTER 30 YEARS**

**Chapter 2**

The next day I came back in the afternoon in a hurry after I did some quick grocery shopping the morning. As I went up to the stairs I heard a conversation taking place in the hallway. This was highly unusual as it was quiet in this place around these hours.

"Don't worry about it."

A familiar voice calmly said that to someone else other than me in the hall.

"As long as we press on, he'll definitely be convinced."

"Somehow I doubt that this... tactic will work," a hesitant reply came. Both were young men, but the first one sounded to be older.

"Why do you still doubt me? It has worked before, so..."

"Not with him, he's not... easily convinced by perseverance alone."

"You are such a damn pessimist!" the elder of the two complained, "You never know. Wait for a miracle to happen!"

"Miracle? Only bad things happened ever since that..."

"Like I said, it's already a miracle we arrived at this place and at this point of time."

"But we don't have time for that... why we just don't go do it ourselves! It should have been easy to find someone who can do the job other than the people in this place... Why do you rely on them so much?"

"Because... they _are_ reliable. Remember, a hundred percent rate! For years! That said, isn't time your specialty? If anything should happen, we still have you..."

"We can't keep doing these things like this... Honestly, we only need _that_ guy and nobody else."

Hesitantly I turned around the corner and found there were two people. I hadn't expected to discover this to be waiting for me. Indeed, it was Jonathan, dressed in a remarkably black outfit. Though not businesslike when compared to Naru, I guess he did look a bit like those men in Gothic Lolita fashion magazines Keiko regularly looks through. I mean that bloody long black coat he was wearing could make Naru trip if he ever tried to walk in it. At least those refined looks make up for his fiery personality. However, both were practically sitting on the floor as if they were waiting for someone. They couldn't be serious.

Scratch that. They were serious!

Jonathan tilted his head slightly to my direction before he questioned me.

"Ah... who are you? Were you just listening in on us?"

The same tone as he spoke to Naru yesterday. Oh boy.

"N-no, I work here," I stuttered, and then took my cue to speak back, "More importantly, who are you? What are you doing here? ...and why are you two camping in front in our office?!"

"Ah, now I remember," Jonathan said, completely ignoring my assault of questions, "The one who fetched me the coffee yesterday?"

"...yes, I'm the office lady..."

A sheepish smile managed to appear on my face. He noticed his brown-haired companion had averted his face to the floor.

"And the one to whom my friend spoke to two days ago..?"

I blinked in surprise.

"Ah then you must be Jin-san...?"

He nodded and looked at me with a blank expression. So that's him, he was really nice on the phone, and he did look fine on the outside too. Compared to Jonathan he was dressed in light colors, a pair of brown jeans and a gray fedora hat. His brown-dyed short hair stuck out at the sides.

So they knew each other... which meant, they probably came for the same reason.

"Yeah..."

"Your name is?" The other asked.

"Ah, I am Taniyama Mai."

The two stared at me for unreasonably long seconds and then at each other, then back at me. What's going on?

"Ah ah, is there something wrong?"

They shook their head and simultaneously said.

"Please treat us well, Taniyama-san!"

I shook off the urge to grimace. What were they just thinking?!

"Well, nice to meet you-"

"Mai! Quit loitering on the hallway and come inside!"

Ah. Ah- It was Naru calling from inside the office. Did he hear us talking?

"Ugh, not him!"

Before he even had the chance to order me to do something - I bet you all know what it is, I do not need to say it here. Naru is that predictable (sometimes). Make a good guess - I slammed the door open and to my surprise we were already face-to-face. If he had been within one meter of the door, I might have hit him hard in the face.

Late!

"Shochou, please greet Jin-san from two days ago and his honorable friend you kicked out yesterday."

I grinned.

The boss was not amused.

Yes, the exact same poor boy you yelled at on the phone two days ago. Can we say awkward? Jin held his breath; in fact we were all holding our breaths until somebody said something. Someone? Anyone?!

I noticed Naru's fingers drumming against the door handle. Ohohoho, someone's in a pinch! It was his fault anyway! I had the urge to stick my tongue out at Naru, but solely managed an obnoxious smile. A smirking Jonathan seemed evenly amused by this at the expense of Jin, who kept staring at the carpet floor, unable to face anyone.

"I think my friend here wants to have to have a little chat with our gentleman CEO over there. Why don't we get inside and have a nice cup of tea?"

Drinking the same thing? What a kind thing to suggest while inviting your humble self in.

So the two seated themselves in the same seat in which Jonathan had been sitting in one day ago. Naru took the seat across them, directly facing Jin, while an imposing Lin lurked in the background. The foreign looking young man didn't seem bothered in the slightest, but the Japanese boy appeared completely nervous in the presence of my boss. Isn't that called overreacting? I guess he really is shy.

As I went to the small kitchen in our office, pleasantries were exchanged between Naru and his potential client. All the while I was being concerned over Jin's wellbeing... Naru didn't make for a good first impression and surely the boy must have heard in which manner Lin had made way for Jonathan's exit the day before.

Lin is totally hardcore. Don't tell him that though. He'll just raise an eyebrow at me and pretend I don't exist. …do I exist for him?

On the other hand Naru seems completely aware of my being in the kitchen.

"Mai, don't keep me waiting!"

Bad mood! Bad mood! Someone needs his tea! Help, someone save me!

Within thirty seconds I managed to pour five china cups of Assam tea for us and our guests. However, the first thing I didn't need to hear from our guest was:

"Not bad, you might want to keep in the teabag for another ten seconds before you start to pour the cups though," Jonathan commented, his face revealed nothing but apathy.

Here's a very willing volunteer to kick this person's leg. I don't need a client to tell me how to hone my tea making. No thanks!

Jonathan ignored my scowls completely and regarded my boss once more.

"Shibuya-san, you might be surprised I'm visiting your humble office once more, but in truth I had been speaking for my shy friend here."

Surprised? Weren't you the one to threat Naru yesterday you'd make him regret something?

"I'm only willing to hear your friend out."

The young man blinked at the answer and sighed.

"Fair enough," he agreed, "now, Jin-san, tell this capable person about your problem."

Ten silent seconds passed by before the boy undertook action, so all of us save him grabbed our cups of tea and sipped in anticipation - I don't know whether this is a sad thing. Jin pulled something out of his pocket, and placed it in the center of the coffee table.

"She's my older sister, Hanaka. We call her Hana."

I stared. The portrait was indeed of a girl with short black and messy hair. In fact, Hana fit the description of a tomboy to the t. Cute, okay, she's really cute. Let me squeal for a moment…! I don't think the men would appreciate me if I did that though.

"How old is she?"

"Nineteen," Jonathan answered, "however, the picture is from her senior middle school days."

Lin cleared his throat lightly, causing the young man to abruptly hold his tongue.

"Jin-san, showing us that picture is not relevant at all," Naru said, "what is paranormal about the problem you're having?"

Jerk.

"That is exactly what you need to tell me," Jin quietly said, "before anything will happen."

Naru didn't reply and I stepped in.

"Can we visit her?"

For some reason Jin got nervous again.

"Um-"

"You cannot," Jonathan firmly fixed his gaze on mine.

"Why can we not?" I asked honestly.

"She's in a coma, so it's useless!" he argued.

"Be quiet!" Two voices resounded.

Apparently both Naru and Jin had lost their precious patience with us and settled to glare at respectively myself and Jonathan. I get it I get it! I'll just keep an eye on that idiotic friend and shut up. However the two us watched wide eyed as Naru nudged Lin to speak about something.

"I made a thorough investigation with the information we had been provided with yesterday."

They had been surprised. Perhaps surprised with how bored we really are.

"You did…?"

"I've sought out any data regarding any incidents on that particular crossroad."

One pair of faces went white as snow in front of our eyes. Naru delivered the final blow.

"The result was negative."

Then they were thrown out again and I could only drop my jaw.

* * *

This night's as cold as ever. As an anonymous person I spend my time after the concert in front of the back door.

"Hey Norio."

Yuuko threw me a can as an offering after last night's gig. I stared at it curiously. She's been doing this more often ever since that case.

"Green tea soda," I read the label.

"It's not the one you wanted. The cherry coke was all gone," she said impishly and opened her can.

"Oh," I said, and then stared at the can she was drinking at that moment, "Wait a minute! How dare you take the cherry coke from me!"

Yuuko grinned.

"It was the last one and I think the green tea suits you better, Bou-san."

"Hmph, green tea huh. I don't think it fits me at all," I mumbled.

"Oh poor Norio. Do you want to trade?"

I raised an eyebrow at the cherry coke can she offered me. She already drank from it.

"Tempting as it may be, no thanks."

She giggled and leaned her head against my arm. "You can be so thoughtful, Norio."

Thoughtful eh? It's not that easy... My body abruptly became stiff at the touch.

"What do you mean? I'm anything but thoughtful after an endless series of gigs...." Yuuko leaned away from me when she notices, but I continued, "Tomorrow another one, and the one after that-"

She didn't listen anymore and interrupted me by pointing somewhere in the sky.

"Look, a falling star!"

I was taken out of my rambling and stared.

"That would be a meteor."

"Whatever," she said, "Isn't it pretty?"

A bright fading line was drawn across the sky in a rapid speed. I was surprised to see it was visible in this city full of lights,

"Making a wish?" I asked and she nodded.

With a smile I drank away and thought it would be nice to be childish for once. "I'm wishing I could see..."

"Your girlfriend?"

"Already told you I don't have one. It's something else. Something I'd like to regain from long ago."

"What is it?"

"Not telling. Wishes like these aren't meant to be told, otherwise they won't come true."

"Do you want to know mine?"

"Who said I wanted to know your wish?"

Yuuko laughed.

"You were about to tell me yours... and I'm pretty sure mine won't come true."

"Mine definitely won't come true."

We spent the last minutes drinking and staring at the fading stars.

"It's late, I'm going home," Yuuko stood up.

"Listen up. I'm going to the last concert and you better be playing there, because I'm going to bring you a homemade cake!" she smiled, walking down the stairs.

"Sounds delicious."

"Chocolate or vanilla?"

"Chocolate is my thing," I replied, scratching my head, "Hey if your wish won't come true, then why won't you tell me?"

Yuuko smiled sadly.

"I'm still hoping."

"I see... I'll tell you mine after you give me the cake."

The girl grinned playfully again as usual.

"Heehee. See you then."

"Okay take care," I lifted a hand in parting and saw her leaving the alleyway into the bright main street. The cherry soda was left forgotten on the stairs.

"How sweet," a voice surprised me from behind, "Someone's having a crush."

"You do not need to point out the obvious," I rolled my eyes and whacked the guitarist in the face with the empty soda can.


	3. Chapter 3

**AFTER 30 YEARS**

**Chapter 3**

"Pretty," the bass musician commented. The cold had gotten the worse of him and I thought he was looking funny. Bou-san stared at the photo on in his hands as he massaged the bridge of his red nose. In fact, Jin had forgotten to take it with him after he visited us last week. We never heard of them afterwards.

"She yours, Naru-chan?" he grinned.

I nearly spit out my tea before saying, "Naru and a tomboy girlfriend?"

There was a moment of silence before the two of us laughed. As usual, the boss ignored us poking fun at him.

"Ahaha, Bou-san, that's too funny!"

"Girlfriend?" He shook his head at me and put the photo in my view next to Naru who was sitting across of me. "More like she could be his daughter… just look at that little face and that cute scowl! Exactly like our Naru, but more huggable! Like-!"

In a sudden act the monk embraced me in his arms.

"Cut it out you're choking me, pervert!" I managed to breathe.

It was only when the photo was snatched away from his grasp that he quit his assault.

"What's up Lin-san?"

Lin-san stared at the photo with critical eyes. I hadn't noticed him leaving his room at all.

"…this uniform," His low voice began to speak.

We blinked. The man probably never looked at the photo when it was given out the first time. I guess he was paying more attention to the weird foreigner than the girl on the photo.

"What? You fancy school girls in uniform?" The monk rubbed his chin in curiosity.

Lin-san contemplated for a short while, before giving back the photo to the other man.

"Never mind. Please continue your work."

Wait, did Lin-san get embarrassed? However, Bou-san gave me that nasty grin on his face again. Damn him. Before he could ever continue choking me, Naru spoke up.

"Leave," he said, still reading his book, "don't play around here."

"What? You're kicking me out in this cold weather?" Bou-san whined, "Naru-chan, you're too cruel-!"

I nodded vehemently.

"I think we've kicked out enough people, Bou-san can keep us entertained!"

I pretended playing bass in his fashion, but Takigawa's eyes rolled upwards in an exhausted fashion.

"Oh Mai, I've had it with those Christmas and New Year party gigs…I need to do one last concert tomorrow and then I'm on break!" he sighed.

Naru shut his book tight all of sudden, refusing to look up at us.

"Mai, you can go now and you don't need to come in this entire week. Consider this free time to attend to your school work."

"Wha-?" I dropped my jaw. Is this his idea of kicking me out?

"Lucky Mai! Want to go on a vacation with me?" He patted my back.

I ignored the monk and kept staring at Naru. He noticed my gaze on him and looked up again, only to glance at Lin-san's door temporarily. Geh. Bou-san noticed it as well, and much like a certain visitor he scurried away from the couch.

"Well, it's not like we especially need to bother you guys," he said to Naru, and then asked me, "how about we go on a date again, missy?"

"Why are you letting me off, Naru?"

"Why?" he repeated, "because it's reasonable. Start to think for yourself next time. I need to cut down on expenses."

* * *

"Take it easy Mai."

"How am I supposed to take it easy? He wrote me off as an expense!"

"But you are missy, just think abou- ouch! My toes!"

I grinned mischievously at the monk after stomping his foot 'accidentally'.

"Alright take me on a date, Bou-san. It's your treat."

We had reached the end of the stairs as he stopped.

"I take offense at that suggestion," Bou-san slowly and calmly told me, "I'm serious it hurts in my heart and-" he pointed to somewhere below, "my toes."

"Then stop pretending to be Naru, I don't need you to tell me to get smart."

"Whatever you want missy," he sighed, pulling out the keys to unlock the doors of the car parked in front of the building, "so wanna go for a ride somewhere?"

"Yeah!" I nodded fiercely.

"Are you sure? I might be a pervert," he teasingly said, while taking the driver's seat.

This time I was the one to sigh. Just take me out of this boring place!

"Monks aren't supposed to be perverts."

He smirked.

"Are you sure I am a monk?"

"Erm, no," I eyed the bass guitar case sitting next to him.

"There you go."

"I'll go in the backseat, thank you very much," I said as I opened the back door.

Ten minutes were passed in silence ever since our conversation and I was feeling very tired all of sudden, despite having had enough sleep to last normally through the day. During my attempts to stay away, I didn't know where he was taking me at all. The last minutes he spent randomly touring around the city. I nearly slipped into a nap before the person in front of me blew his nose and then spoke.

"Mai, it's just a joke."

"I know Bou-san," I said groggily, "I just don't want you to move around your bass guitar-"

"It's lonely here, come and sit with me. The bass won't break."

"I don't know. I've never handled instruments before," I yawned.

There was a long pause.

"Oh Mai. You're not that clumsy," he replied instead. The monk obviously noticed my exhaustion, but decided not to comment.

"You sure about that?"

"….no?" He nervously looked into the rear mirrors.

"See. You don't trust me," I said.

"Well, the feeling's mutual," he decided. "Now we stand even."

"Right."

"You've never played an instrument before?"

"Nope."

"It's fun, you should try it sometime."

"I don't have the money."

"You could always ask you parents."

That's where it always ends. At that point I hadn't told anybody yet about my home situation.

"I mean, don't you take music classes at school," he tried, again staring at the mirrors, apparently missing my lack of response. "High school students these days…"

"I didn't know you were that old," I teased him.

"Mai, what makes you think I am that old?!"

"Well, you are talking like a grumpy old man."

"Ugh," he sighed, "c'mon girl, take the bass to the back and sit with me."

Clumsily my hands took the length to the car's ceiling, careful not to disturb Bou-san's driving.

"Don't break it Mai," he warned.

I stuck out my tongue.

"If I break it, I'll be sure to hit you with this thing for even suggesting doing this at all."

"It won't break," he decided, as I proceeded to haul it to the back.

"Alright I did it!"

"Good girl, can you strap it down for me too?" His voice had become decidedly serious for the occasion.

"Sure," I did as he said.

"Nice, now come and sit with me here."

This was rather difficult to do, but as the chairs weren't tall at all I actually managed to land gracefully into the seat next to Bou-san.

"Seatbelts."

"Yeah yeah, I know."

As I finished that task as well, I looked up to see his face, which unveiled anxiety. Did something happen…?

"Bou-san… what's going on?"

After casting another glance at the rear mirror, he stared down at me.

"Mai, we're being followed."

* * *

Seven minutes before I told Mai, I had noticed the two motorcyclists tailing behind. As we left the Shibuya district three minutes later I thought something fishy was going on, so I did some detours. That's when I realized our position and I decided to make her sit in the front, because I couldn't risk an accident while I wanted to shake them off. Shake them off. What the hell am I planning to do?

"We're being followed."

"Bou-san, what? Are you serious?!"

"Girl, I am," I said as I looked her sternly in the eye for a moment, before focusing on the road again.

"Don't look to the back. They'll know we noticed them."

"Wha?"

"By now they should," I corrected myself and went into a busy highway. They followed us. Damn it.

"Who is it?"

I looked into the rear mirror again.

"Two motorcyclists, wearing helmets and black leather jackets. Know anyone like them?"

"I have no idea."

"Che. Why in the world are they after us…?"

"What do we do now?"

"The hell I know!" I said, "Call the police. Got a phone?"

"I don't have any!"

"Nooo," I whined. I accidentally left mine home. My day couldn't get any worse.

Then Mai started to gasp all of sudden after she looked in the back mirror.

"Mai?"

"It's them."

"Them?"

"Those two guys we rejected in the office!" she explained.

"What the hell?!" I yelled, "Those jackasses don't know when to quit do they!?"

I made a sudden turn to the left that went to the western direction. Those guys were shaken off, but surely enough reappeared after moments. It's quiet in the car until, she tugged the sleeve of my jacket, when looked at her eyes were shut.

"Please. Stop the car," she said breathlessly, "My head is.."

"Are you okay?"

Mai shook her head lightly and then fell over. The only thing keeping her body up was the seatbelt. My bottom lip dropped in shock.

"Oy, Mai!" I managed to say.

My worry for her made me stop somewhere in an abandoned road. By that time the two had caught up with us and I decided to deal with them instead of playing hide and seek.

"Wake up Mai!"

She didn't wake up. I undid her seatbelt and left her there to sit.

The sound of engines stopped near us. I rapidly turned on my feet to see a tall man standing there with his partner. Behind him were the motorcycles. Both of them wore helmets.

"Stay away from us," I said, trying to sound intimidating.

The two men stopped 20 steps away from our car.

"Takigawa Houshou. Former Buddhist monk from Mount Kouya. Am I correct?"

I stared at them cautiously. These guys...

"How do you know all of that? ...and what do you want from us?"

"Simple investigation. It's not that hard..." he replied, "We know about all of SPR so to say..."

"What?"

"To answer your second question. We'll be taking the two of you into our custody for a limited amount of time."

"What? You want me to do some exorcism on a place that has no activity at all?!"

The tall man took off his helmet, a foreigner. By now I was pretty sure this had been the guy who got kicked out of the office no less than twice.

"No, there's no need to."

I smirked, "I see. It was all a lie."

The man laughed.

"That's very like you. Very sharp. Yes, it was all a lie."

I didn't like the tone of this. He tried to keep a friendly facade, but who knew what could happen from now on.

"Then what do you want - Kidnap us? Bribe for money?"

The foreign man shook his head.

"...I swear, if you lay a hand on that girl..." I threatened.

"Rest assured. We won't hurt her."

"Stop pulling me this shit. If anything you already did. She just passed out from being chased around by the likes of you."

The younger boy casted a glance at the girl and sighed.

"It's not us who made that girl fall asleep in your car and it's not like she's dead."

"Shut up bastard!"

The boy jumped a little from my reaction and I took this as a chance to attack. I ran toward him, but the other man intervened by standing between us.

"Stop right here."

Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned around only to see someone I never expected to be there. Out of shock I fell back a few steps. There were only a few seconds to study the face, before the men held me and covered my mouth with a damp cloth.


	4. Chapter 4

**AFTER 30 YEARS**

**Chapter 4**

"Sleep. Fall asleep."

Those words were suggested to me and my heart started to feel light. I felt my body itself lighten and float up into the dream.

"Come here."

In a dark world multiple voices begged me to come down, I realized. A woman? A man? Three figures awaited me on the ground. All of them wore veils in front of their faces. One woman and two men. All three were dressed in yukata. One of them men held out his arms to me, reaching out to my hands. Slim hands held mine.

"Naru?" I said, staring dumbfounded at the young man with the veil. Usually it was Naru appearing in my dreams, although not at time like these - when - whatever I was doing now? Whoever he was, he certainly looked like him, but the atmosphere was anything but comfortable.

"Naru is that you?"

He tilted his head as if he was not familiar with the name. My eyes went down his neck to see a necklace holding a mirror pendant at the end. Half of a mirror, broken into pieces. The other man and the woman surrounded me from behind. He was muscular and dark and she looked like a princess with long hair reaching down to her knees.

"Who are you people?" I asked.

"Come with us."

The words echoed around and I was unable to determine which voice belonged whom.

* * *

I woke up and I did not remember a thing after I asked Bou-san to stop the car. The room was pitch dark. Had night already fallen? I panicked, pushed off the sheets and grabbed for my own garments. It seemed I had been sleeping a futon and thankfully had been in my own clothes.

"Bou-san?!" I called out.

Nothing.

"Hello?! Is somebody there?" I called out again, "Excuse me. Can somebody turn on the lights - I can't see a thing! By the way, can someone tell me where the hell I am?!"

I couldn't hear anything in response to my questions. Just nothing and it started to scare the hell out of me. There's creaking outside whatever this room is. Behind me I could hear the shoving of a door. I could see light streaming in on the floor to the right of me. A shadow followed in. I didn't dare to look myself who the person was. This person was kneeling in front of the entrance.

"Taniyama Mai-san. I see you have woken up."

The voice of a mature woman.

"Where am I? What am I doing here?!"

"For now, please refrain from asking questions. They will be answered in due time by those involved."

The words she spoke were calm and neutral. I turned around and saw the person just in time by closing the shoji doors. She wore a thin white veil in front of her face, covering everything except her mouth and chin. Why was she hiding her identity like that? In due time? I didn't understand it at all. Moments ago I was happily with Bou-san in his car and then got chased down by crazy people and now... this! What do they want from us?!

The door had closed shut and I was in the darkness again. Before I knew it, the shoji in front of me opened. Two females in beige kimono's, and again with white veils in front of their heads, had appeared. One of them was a tall lady who had entered with a candle light in her hands, and she proceeded to lit up the candles that were in the room. The other was holding a black kimono with cherry blossom patterns. It seemed that the room was bigger and more luxurious than I had imagined. A six mat tatami room.... I could very well imagine this as a ryoukan for kidnapped people.

The shorter lady with braided black hair addressed me the first.

"Taniyama Mai-san. Could you please stand up and allow me to change you into your new garments?"

"W-Why would I?"

"This is an order Taniyama-san," said the tall woman with grey long hair sternly.

"From who?"

The woman pursed her lips. Oh whatever. No questions right? I hesitantly stood up and glared at the woman. The other lady helped me change into the kimono she had prepared for me. I wasn't used to wearing them in the least.

"Motoyo-san, I'm going to help Takako-san to bring the dishes for Taniyama-san and the other visitor," she said, "then I'll alert the others."

Motoyo nodded.

"Go ahead, Kasaki-san."

After litting up all the candles, Kasaki folded up the futon and made it disappear in one of the closets hidden in the wall, then she left and shut the shoji behind her.

"She's scary..." I mentioned out loud, and then slapped my mouth. Damn, I should keep my mouth shut... anything could happen here!

Despite the insult, Motoyo smiled for some reason and I felt oddly at ease. For some reason I got dolled up by the lady. Elaborate hairpins in my hair and the faint use of make up was proof of this. I didn't question her at all. As long as they didn't do anything weird to me I wouldn't budge. The veils reminded me of the dream I had before I woke up... or passed out. I remembered again. Those three people also had their faces covered with some sort of veil. It was a strange dream, just as it was strange how they had been using candles to lighten the room. All of this hassle made me feel as if I had time travelled to the nineteenth century.

Just as I was beginning to get impatient, the shoji behind me opened. I turned around to see Kasaki and the woman I first saw when I woke up with a serving table.

Oh God. They really pulled a ryoukan on me from the looks of it. The fish!

"Thank you Takako-san," Motoyo said.

I nodded politely despite my situation and Takako left again. Ugh, the conflicted feeling I'm having didn't help at all. I was just so intimidated to just run out! Wait. I could have run out when I was still wearing my clothes - it's too much of a hassle in this kimono! I felt stupid, because they never restrained me in the first place. Fear must have stricken my face, because Motoyo tilted her head.

Kasaki settled the table down in front of me.

"Eat."

She's ordering me now to eat?!

I pouted and stared at the variation of small dishes. Good heavens! This should have been a dream for any ryoukan tourist. Could I be in Kyoto now? I shook my head and picked up the chopsticks.

This wasn't cheap. Oh no.

Every time I crunched on something delicious my heart broke as I tried to think of the price of this dinner. Motoyo tilted her head again.

"You do not need to look so guilty. This dinner is for free."

I stared at her with a huge eyes. This is too good to be true! Of course she had to be lying. Motoyo smiled. I considered that smile and hoped it was free after all. Kasaki coughed behind me.

"Naive child," she muttered.

My shoulders hung instantly. She really did hate me or something.

"Now now Kasaki-chan, you didn't need to be that truthful," Motoyo laughed it off.

I felt another stab in the heart. Can you believe it?! They were bullying me! Stupid bullies!

"Taniyama-san," Kasaki began, "After the dinner you will be lead by us to the conference room. You'll meet those involved in your situation. You do not have to worry, you won't get hurt."

"You expect me to believe that?" I asked.

Kasaki shrugged. Well. That was that. I finished my dinner quickly. Motoyo took care of the serving table and brought it away through the doors behind. Then the other woman gestured me to follow her. From the well lit room into the dark hallways of who knows where I am.

* * *

I woke up to find myself to be the object of laughing stock of the two dudes who kidnapped us to some... traditional inn. I had been sleeping in a futon in the middle of a pretty much empty room with the two watching over me like hawks. The foreign looking guy informed me that Mai was in one of the other room, sleeping soundly. I was still concerned about that girl's welfare, but I was reassured that she was just sleeping. Right. Then I realized someone had changed me into a light green yukata while I was unconscious. Apparently I got stark naked. Not wearing any underwear. Damn it.

"Hey you with the difficult name!"

He stared at me.

"Call me Jon," said the person whose name was Jonathan, I had learned after they properly introduced themselves. The other boy with brown hair was named Jin. After the whole incident they had changed into a brown yukata as well. I had wondered why they were using those things when it was still in the middle of winter.

"…Jon," I repeated and then grimaced, "Nah, sounds too much like a pal who isn't nearly as suspicious as you."

"Is that so?"

"An Australian, he's 'bout your age, younger and an absolute angel. How about calling you the devil?" I decided.

Jonathan kept his back turned to me and to my own surprise he didn't react to my insult.

"Nathan."

"Fair enough," I closed my eyes for a moment, "Will you tell me who's the pervert who changed me into this yukata?! - is it one of you?!"

"How could that be!" Jonathan turned around with an annoyed expression, "If I had to guess it would be a woman who changed you while you were sleeping."

"A woman?! Who?" I cried out, flustered. Woman or man, they'd still be a pervert. A woman...

Jin frowned and Jonathan slapped the boy's back.

"Oh you know who, Jin!" he laughed, "She wouldn't allow anyone else to do that to this guy ever since she laid her eyes on him!"

Pervert. I got touched by some perverted woman!

At that moment the shoji doors opened, revealing a short haired lady with a serving plate.

"Oh wow, can we say delicious? Or poisonous?" I commented as she placed it down in front of me.

"It contains no poison," the lady said, "Would have been a waste of money."

Come to think of it... would there be any reason to poison me at all?

Jin sighed wearily.

"Takako-san, is it time already?"

"You are expected to be at the conference room within fifteen minutes."

"Understood," he said.

"Conference room? What's happening?" I asked as Takako moved away from me. I stared at the table. Hot damn, this food looks too delicious! I was too tempted not to think of it as poison!

Jonathan waltzed through the room.

"You won't be attending the meeting."

"...and Mai is?"

"Yes."

"There's nothing, like perverted going to happen. I swear if you-"

"None of that, Takigawa-san. None of that," Jonathan assured with a smile, "If anything... Shibuya-san, that man will suffer great consequences."

"Ha Naru, a man? More like a stuck-up brat!"

Jonathan smirked.

"I see. You'll meet with Mai after the meeting, then it's your turn."

I glared at him as the young men parted through the opened gaps in the wall.

"For your information," Jonathan added with a highly mischievous look in his eyes, "The woman behind you got you changed. Why don't you two have a chat? I'm sure she can explain a few things for you..."

The doors were tightly shut behind him and I could stare at the walls baffled by his answer. Seconds later I dared to look at the woman still veiled with a white sheet in front of her face. Her mouth smiled.

"Well.... who are you exactly?" I asked, sensing there was something more to this.

"Your wife," Takako answered primly.


	5. Chapter 5

**Note: **You might be interested in knowing that there is another version of this fic online with colored sketches. I only managed to draw up to chapter 4 though.

Address: archiveofourown. org / works / 36437

Paste in your browser and remove the spaces.

**Note2:** Thank you for the comments so far! I eagerly await your reactions for this chapter.

**AFTER 30 YEARS**

**Chapter 5**

Around 5 'o clock Naru and Lin left the office as it was time to leave for home. Alerted by his shiki's stirs and whispers, Lin frowned and stared at the door.

"Did you forget something?" Naru said after he had noticed the man standing there without moving. Lin muttered something inaudible before looking directly at Naru with a stern face.

"Where exactly are the ofuda placed in our office?"

"Ofuda?" Naru returned to open the door and checked behind an empty case near the exit.

"It's gone," Lin observed.

"I had asked Matsuzaki-san to renew the ofuda during Christmas after I asked her, but..." Naru paused, and glanced at his assistant, "Lin, what's the matter?"

"There's an opening in our wall... so to say. Ever since today."

Naru didn't reply and went back to stare at the empty spot behind the case. A smell of burn paper didn't go unnoticed when he looked down.

"Hmm..."

He kneeled and touched the black residue with a finger.

"It burned away," he noted.

"I'll check the other ofuda," Lin decided.

Naru pondered the incident as the other man went to check on the other ofuda. The miko had placed several ofuda barriers within the office. The barrier Lin's office was intact and so was Naru's. The only ofuda that seemed to missing had been near the entrance.

"Something strong went into our office..."

Naru sighed and went to sit on the couch. "Lin, do we have anything here that doesn't belong to this place?"

"Highly improbable... the only people of today to bring in something significant of that nature would be the monk," Lin said.

"What did Bou-san do by the way? Something could have been following him or Mai," Naru said.

"All he did was drink coffee and... that photo," Lin realized with suspicion. He hadn't thought of taking the photo after Mai and the monk was ushered out.

"Photo?" Naru raised an eyebrow as Lin searched under the table.

"The photo of that girl... and that school uniform she wore."

"What's with the uniform?"

"I recognized it. I don't remember quite where I've seen it before."

Naru failed to see why Lin had thought so. He was observant, but surely he couldn't be paying much close attention to whatever school girls were wearing nowadays.

"An English school uniform?" he suggested, but Lin gave no response, "Is there something wrong with that photo?"

"I only had it in my hand for several seconds, but I was distracted... In hindsight something did feel off about that photo."

"Does it have something to do with your shiki's behaviour this past week?"

His shiki had a period of numbness of quite a while. Lin nodded, and said, "I'm completely sure of it. Coincidentally they are on their way to recovering though."

Naru clasped his hands together.

"Those two people showed the photo to us and left it here on purpose. After the fact we left straight to our own rooms, so whatever happened to it afterwards is only known to Mai. Then after a week she showed it to Bou-san who had it in his possession last time I've seen him."

"Do you think he has it?"

Naru nodded and Lin picked up the phone to call the monk.

"He's not picking up."

"Try Mai."

Lin sighed and dialed her home.

"Nothing either."

He rose from the couch and walked to her desk and picked up the pen she used to write notes down. Lin waited and observed the boy frowning.

"Naru?"

"I can't get anything from this," he said.

"How odd..."

Naru sighed. This was useless.

* * *

I stared at her and couldn't connect the words that just came out of her mouth to her appearance. This woman was far older than me. I dared not to guess out loud, but she had to be much older than thirty at least and she had to be mad.

Takako giggled.

"When did I get married?" I pulled a straight face as I asked the question.

"Twenty-five years ago," she smiled.

"I _am_ twenty-five!" I cried out, "You're just messing with me aren't you?!"

Takako laughed out loud, putting her hand in front of her mouth.

"Hahaha, you poor boy. You had to see the look on your face just now. Priceless!"

"Jeez, I thought you'd married me and changed me while I was unconscious!"

"I would have. I cannot pass up a good looking unconscious man."

"Pfft, that's not funny," I said, "I mean, you sure feel completely at ease joking around, but who was the one who got kidnapped?"

She giggled again. "You're right indeed."

"Although I do have to say it has been a pleasant kidnapping experience - so far. Except for the time when those guys picked us up by force."

Takako didn't say anything more and I made use of that time to place the chopsticks in my hand.

"How much time has passed after we got kidnapped? What time is it anyway?"

"I daresay it's half past five and you were brought here at one 'o clock."

If everything she said was true that meant this ryoukan still had to be in or around Tokyo. I wondered if I could get a view from the outside, then I could possibly determine where this place is situated at. One thing I noted was the absolute lack of modern utensils. I finished my dinner without saying another word.

"How was your dinner?"

"I'm rendered speechless. I haven't had a good meal like this in a while."

Takako seemed pleased by my answer. Not much time passed and a young man entered the room hastily. He couldn't be much older than Jin.

"Takako-san, we need to bring him. The master said so."

"Already?" She said in surprise, "How awfully quick."

"I'm sorry," he apologized.

"No need to," she answered, and then said to me, "I've already anticipated that we will have to talk after the meeting. I assure you that meeting won't take too long."

* * *

I was brought into that room. About a dozen of people were sitting there on the floor, all wearing noh masks or white veils to disguise their identities - all except for the two young men in the back. It's them again! I scowled immediately in their direction, but Jonathan smiled cheerfully and Jin looked away completely embarrassed. Whispers were all around me.

_'Is it really her?' 'No it couldn't be. How did they do this?' 'Is she the one they were going on about?'_

Confused I shook my head from one side to another. Were they talking about me? A woman shrieked in the background, but I was shoved into the center of the room before I could look and positively scowled my best at Kasaki. Three men were in the front and one of them was on a slightly elevated platform, indicating his higher status. At his base was another man - probably a relative of the same age, and most curiously at his right-hand there was an old monk whose hair had mostly greyed or fallen out. Out of them he was the only one who wore a noh mask.

"Sit down, Taniyama," Kasaki ordered, dropping the formality, and then said one of the men in front of me, "When should I get the other one, master?"

The master was the one leisurely sitting in front of me on the elevated platform. He seemed to be in his late thirties. His black hair was pulled back with a knot behind him. I couldn't see anything else than the curves of his face and his mouth, but there was no doubt he would have been an attractive man if he wasn't lying down so lazily as that. Joined to his side was a half-filled wooden square cup containing sake.

"This will only take a short while, so yes," he answered with a voice that could only belong to a dignified and stubborn person. The master sat up properly when Kasaki whispered something in his ear. He nodded a few times and dismissed her by holding up a hand in front of her. Slightly annoyed she went sit at the base together with that master's relative. She didn't seem to be fond of the master either. A young man went down to their seat and Kasaki gave him an order - presumably to get Bou-san here.

Then I noticed the master staring my face and I felt frightened for a second. However that gaze was immediately diverted and he glanced to the people who kidnapped me.

"I admit I'm a little disappointed with how much time it took to get our visitors here, but I can't say no to the the outcome. Even if we have only one day left."

"Like they say... Third time's a charm?" Jonathan shrugged with a wry smile on his face.

He received no immediate response as his boss was finishing the remainder of the sake. After the last gulp he tapped the wooden box thrice on the floorboard. Jonathan cringed a little. This master is an ill-mannered man for sure.

"Three times."

Jin shrugged indifferently, even though he seemed really embarrassed about this. His brow twitched in displeasure and the corners of his lips went downwards.

"The phone call was the first attempt," he explained.

I raised an eyebrow and finally dared to spoke up.

"So it failed, because you hung up on us?"

Jin nodded slowly.

"You can't blame him though. He was all alone and thought it was too scary to visit your office. Jin is no good with phone calls either," Jonathan said with a smile and it earned a glare from the other boy.

Kasaki was impressed with neither of them and said, "Jonathan, you blew it up completely by visiting them. I'd never have thought you'd get thrown out _twice_."

"Well, that's!" Jonathan blushed red, "Ah well, I didn't how-"

I had to hide my amusement. They didn't expect that Naru would be so ruthless.

"However, it's such a relief that our dearest Hanaka thought up the cleverest trick to bail out exactly what we needed," said the master.

I remembered that name.

"Hanaka? Isn't that.. Jin's sister?"

The master regarded me with slight amusement in his voice.

"Ah! Indeed, the girl Jonathan and Jin spoke of, as well as the girl on the photo," he said, and then shifted his gaze to somewhere behind me, "I would be pleased if you could bring us that photo, Hanaka."

I turned my head to see who entered the room. An elegant young woman in her twenties walked in a straight line to the center of the room. Her hair was black and wavy, down to her back. If it had been her, because she was absolutely nothing like the tomboy girl on the photo.

Hanaka handed the picture over to the master without looking even once at me.

"This," the man held it up so I could see it properly, "This is one of the keys to how we brought you here. Now you can come in... my dear young Takigawa-san."

I spun around and the shoji slid open in the most rapid manner possible. Bou-san had fended off his two companions and opened it himself.

"Mai! Are you alright?!" he cried out as soon as he spotted me. Bou-san paused when he took a better look at me with his eyes wide open. Never thought to see me in this getup, didn't he?

Again his appearance earned a lot of whispers.

_'This is unbelievable!' 'How in the world did they manage the two of them here?' 'This is impossible!'_

"Yes... so far yes," I finally said and he sighed of relief.

Jonathan had scrambled up and took Bou-san to my side.

"Sit here, and listen to what our master has to say."

The musician frowned a little, but didn't say anything to this. He was more concerned about me than what went on in the rest of the room.

"Bou-san... I have no idea what's going on... Looks like we'll find out soon."

However, he didn't pay attention to my words as his eyes were fixated on the monk sitting right in front of him, and that Takako had joined the old man's side hooking her arm in his arm with a cheery smile. I recalled that the old monk never had spoken or moved an inch ever since I entered this room. I looked at my friend again and noticed that Bou-san's face displayed a mix of confusion and anger. I wasn't sure what was going on.

"That perverted lady pretended to be my wife and changed me into this while I was unconscious..." he mumbled. I raised an eyebrow.

The master held up the photo of Hanaka, while she left to sit with her brother.

"Recognize this, Takigawa?"

Bou-san looked shocked. "That's..."

"We found this in your coat, young man."

I stared at him, "You took it with you...?"

However, he seemed as much as baffled as I was.

"No way, I left it on the table... this has to be a copy!"

"No," the master shook his head, "This picture made you fall right into this trap, because we needed you to come here."

This meant... right from the start, but how...?

"Bring the body here," the man next to Kasaki said.

Body. I shivered.

After Jonathan and another man left to the room next door, they reappeared with the body of a long-haired man on a stretcher. To my own relief he seemed to be asleep, instead of dead. They settled him right in front of us. Yet again like most of the others he wore a white veil to disguise his face.

"Kirishou, take him out," the master ordered the man sitting at the base, offering him the picture.

Kirishou was a surprisingly lean man and as I suspected he did seem related to the master. Their facial contours resembled highly as I looked even closer, but their mouth's expressions were completely different. The serious man sat down next to the body and he tore the piece of paper into two. The tearing didn't go unnoticed as it had been the only sound in the entire room at that moment.

The body began to breathe deeply at last and then stirred slightly as if being awakened.

"Hourouji has entered his body," Kirishou announced, after observing quietly.

"Very well," the master said.

"Master..?" Hourouji said weakly.

I shivered. I knew this voice.... it was a strange mix of sounds.

"Mai... what's wrong?" Bou-san noticed.

Those three people...

"Where is my katana? Where is it?" Hourouji cried, flailing his hands around in search.

A sword? This couldn't possibly be the yakuza?! As though I couldn't say it out loud, I stared at Bou-san in tension and he seemed very uneasy about this situation as well.

"Give Hourouji his sword back!" The master ordered one of his servants.

In less than ten seconds, a Motoyo came with a sheathed small sword. Behind her tailed the same young man who brought Bou-san here, with a sheathed katana. They placed it beside him as he groped for the swords. Hourouji calmed down, after he assured the items were with him.

"Master...? Why am I wearing this?" he asked.

"Just lay down for a moment," the master said, "We need you to rest first."

"Yes master."

Bou-san grabbed my wrist for a moment to pull me closer and he seemed completely horrified as he was shaking like crazy. I didn't know what to think of this either. Just now, some guy's spirit was released from the photo we had with us.

"Not an inn. If that's a real katana... only some yakuza use them, but then again..." he whispered.

"What are you saying, Bou-san?"

He shook his head, completely frustrated, and let go of me. The musician stood up and regarded the master resolutely.

"What's the meaning of this?"

"Sit down Takigawa," Kasaki said, but he ignored her.

"Where are we anyway? Are we still in Tokyo?"

The master stared and the noise was hushed in the rest of the room. Takako cocked her head in confusion.

"Tokyo?" he asked with a tone of indifference, "Where's that?"

... what? WHAT?!

Bou-san had petrified.

"Master, if I may speak," Jonathan held up his hand, "Takigawa-san meant Edo. It will be named Tokyo in 1868."

"Ah... is that so?" The master scratched the stubble on his chin with mild curiosity.

"That's impossible!" Bou-san yelled taken out of his stupor, and approaching the man, "What are you people taking us for!?"

Even I had to admit things had gotten way over border-line now. I couldn't take it seriously anymore. These people could only be mad! There was nothing else!

"Stand back, fool!"

I shrieked.

A sword was crossed between the young monk and the master. Hourouji had risen from the stretcher and defended his master by putting the sharp object pointed at my friend.

"I won't allow anyone to touch my master..." he warned.

After Hourouji put it back in the sheath, Bou-san stumbled back on his behind completely alert of his position. Even if it were nonsense, they could never mess with the likes of this sword user.

"Stand up girl," Jonathan walked over and pulled me up by my wrist, for I was too frightened to make my legs move. "We have no intents of letting you people go back to your time, unless you can help us with our problems. This samurai has cooperated with us and spent an entire week in recumbent state, just to get you two here."

"Why us?" I asked softly, trying to stand on my own feet instead of leaning to his support.

Jonathan let me go, after looking at me with serious eyes. Then he regarded the old monk who had been staring at Bou-san. Was he concerned?

"Bou-san," he said. Both monks looked up. Jonathan looked flustered for a moment, "Ah, I meant the _older_ monk. - I was wondering if you could take the girl with you and explain the whole thing."

I frowned a little. He also called the other monk 'Bou-san'?. Why didn't he call him by name?

There was the sound of coughing from the other side of the room - Jin or Hanaka?

"Why can't I be there as well?" My friend asked slowly.

"Takako-san and I will take up your matter. It will be faster and more convenient for all of us this way," Jonathan explained, "Gentlemen over there, please accompany Takako and this guy."

Takako went back on her feet with a smile. Takigawa made gruff and displeased sounds as he was lead away by a couple of tough guys, followed by Jonathan. The old monk stood at our side and stared after him, as if he contemplated saying something.

"He may not look like it, but he's really a monk... or at least used to be," I said.

The monk stared at me, but still didn't talk. Instead he moved soundlessly to Takako and whispered something in her ear. Pfft, thanks for making me really uncomfortable. She nodded a few times, before both disappeared into the hallway into opposite directions

Motoyo approached me and cocked her head to the side and said, "You will have your talk outside, but I suggest you'll change into something lighter first."

"Eh? Isn't it really cold?"

She shook her head.

"It's just that most of the rooms inside have been kept cold for the master. He prefers it that way."

My kimono indeed felt hot as I passed down the hallways. Motoyo had fetched a light blue yukata and helped me change.

The more and more I thought about what happened moments ago, it began to sink in that there really weren't any modern utilities around - I hadn't seen any phone and about everyone was dressed as if they came from before the 19th century.

Everyone except for Jin, Jonathan and possibly Hanaka as well. Jin's hair was dyed brown and I'm pretty sure nobody had their hair like that back then, unless they happened to be half-Caucasian. However, his sister Hanaka looked completely Japanese. Then Jonathan must to be a son of a foreign trader and since foreigners weren't allowed outside Yokohama in those days. I could probably guess where we where. I smiled to myself for remembering this from the history lesson.

I was almost inclined to think that, but I remembered the chase. There were no motorcycles in the Edo period. At least Jin and Jonathan had to be time travellers themselves... as well as Hanaka.

Nothing made sense and I still can't believe it.

"There you go!" Motoyo said as she fastened the obi around my waist.

"Thank you."

"Let's go then."

As I was lead to the garden I noticed the temperature rise. I couldn't think of a moment more surreal than this. It was early in January as I knew, the time when the cold, the ice and the snow reigned. Normally during winter the dark would have taken over around dinner time, but now the sun was visible somewhere above it. It was hot and it certainly didn't look like Tokyo with the tall buildings having vanished from the horizon, and I was only able to see a forest expanding over the entire sight.

This wasn't a trick, but the truth. My knees trembled and I had let it fully sink in and confirmed to myself that I, Taniyama Mai, along with Takigawa Houshou, had indeed traveled to the era of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Otherwise this had to be one terrible and vivid nightmare.

Motoyo had descended down the wooden platform and offered me a hand.

"Are you alright, Taniyama-san?"

I must have had a puzzling look on my face. I nodded, and took her hand. She led me to a green pathway and eventually we reached a small pond where the old monk was at. I panicked when Motoyo excused herself as the grey-haired man gestured me to come sit down there. So I did and I went to sit next to him in a grassy spot near the water. Even though I expected to feel uncomfortable by being all alone with an old and strange man, the uneasiness had somehow vanished as soon as I heard the sound of water running from the bamboo fountain.

"Alright, 't is about time to end this theatre play," the old monk mumbled in a rather unconventional and informal speech, as he took of the noh mask from his head. I recognized that voice and the soft and friendly eyes when he turned to face me. He gave me a wrinkled and broad smile, "Hey there, ojou-chan. This must come as a real surprise."


End file.
